Michael Moore: Christian right is keeping U.S. in the ‘dark ages’ | The Raw Story

Michael Moore: Christian right is keeping U.S. in the ‘dark ages’ | The Raw Story

Friday night on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” host Bill Maher and a panel made up of MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton, author and professional skeptic Richard Dawkins, filmmaker Michael Moore and former U.S. CIA operative Valerie Plame discussed radical Islam and the corrosive effects of religious zealotry on science and culture.

Maher opined that Islam needs its own Pope Francis to ease the religion away from its radical, destructive tendencies. He asked Dawkins, who has had his own run-ins with Islam online due to a number of anti-Muslim tweets and other expressions of skepticism about the religion, what the author thinks about liberals who are hesitant to speak out against Islam for fear of being seen as racist.

“Which is stupid,” Maher said, “because Islam’s not a race.”

“Well of course it’s not a race,” Dawkins agreed.

“Well if I criticize Michael Vick, it’s not because he’s black, it’s because he electrocuted dogs,” continued Maher.

19 COMMENTS

I hate to agree with Michael Moore, but he does occasionally make sense.

Mr. Moore, as sensitive as he is to massive scams of all sorts, it’s a true monument to human cognitive dissonance how he seems entirely oblivious to history’s biggest longest running scam – the Roman Catholic Church where Moore regularly attends mass.

Islam itself was originally much more conducive to learning and tolerance than Christianity was. Then the fundamentalists took over and ruined it. America is having a similar experience. America became a great power by promoting learning, research, science and now has taken a turn into the ditch because fundamentalists have taken over. Comments of contemporary politicians are as ignorant as any you might have heard in 1200.

I, myself, am currently an amateur skeptic. I rank in the top 100 amateurs however, and look forward to my opportunity to “make the big leagues” someday as a professional. I doubt the pay is very good, and the working conditions seem pretty bad, but I want to prove that I can make it.

So, it is off to the Olympics in 2016 for me, after which I will entertain offers from all the big skeptic teams and perhaps go pro. Please, please, please do not try to pay me before 2016 as I do not want to lose my amateur status.

Islam originally was the robber baron cult of Muhammad, based on looting the camel trains of traders on the Mecca/ Medina
trade route, after 13 years of failure to make converts in Mecca. Medina’s inhabitants proved more amenable to the new religion than
Mecca’s mainly due to the shared booty they were offered from successful raids.

Without going too far with the history lesson may I suggest you do more research? Islam is (according to its basic tenets)
fundamentally extreme, as much political dogma as religion- and the title ‘Religion of Peace’ refers only to the situation
when the world is ruled according to the Sharia’a, ie totally Muslim and subjugated to Allah…
until then there is Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam; look it up.

The misguided foreign policy of the United States surely made matters much worse, but Bill Maher is still 100% right about Islam being a very special case. There were bloody islamic invasions, conquests, and internecine wars hundreds of years before America was even born.

The misguided foreign policy of the United States surely made matters much worse, but Bill Maher is still 100% right about Islam being a very special case. There were bloody islamic invasions, conquests, and internecine wars hundreds of years before America was even born.

Absolutely, Fred- why is this point not appreciated more widely? And, as we see all through the Islamic countries it continues even 1400 years later…

Yeah, he falls for all the crackpot conspiracy theories while failing to notice the real evil conspiracy he is unwittingly part of…

Cases like his suggest what Professor Dawkins’ next project could be – a campaign to (privately) turn around celebrities i.e people with a large following and thus considerable influence.

It could start with a letter e.g. “Michael, admire your work. Flabbergasted to learn about your Catholicism. Here’s a few reasons why you might want to reconsider it: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, etc. regards, Richard.” And end with Moore making his next documentary on the Criminal History of Christianity based on a ten volume opus of the same name. The promo practically writes itself: “Leading documentary filmmaker turned atheist by leading atheist makes film on crimes of Christianity.”

The first recorded reference to apostasy from Judaism is in Deuteronomy 13:6-11, which states:

“If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again”.

No. the first: “It transgresses boundaries and imposes itself on day to day matters that have no place in spiriitual belief”….

I believe he was making his point on the actual doctrine of Islam.
Where as in the examples you cite, especially that of Ann Coulter, is more of an example of the liberties to which some members will go, in spreading their religion. On the basis of doctrine, I don’t see how Islam can be trumped by any other presently practiced religion when it comes to sheer savagery.
I mean the founder of Islam married a 6 year old girl when he was in his fifties!